The road less traveled by...

EDIT: Lower Mesa Falls, Idaho, being graced by the presence of a Renee Biertempfel fairy. Photo taken July 2003.

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+    Age is just a number.   That's what I used to say.  And I believed it...that is, until Sam and I transplanted just under one hundred seedlings last month.  Oye!!  That is back-breaking work; bending, stooping, squating, then standing again.  My knees and my back did a fine job of bringing my little theory under the critical light of reality, LOL.   A week later I was at it again, planting another one hundred seedlings that will be transplanted into the farm next year. But, there's got to be a better way!   We spent the weekend at the cabin.  The snow is gone, the weather is warming and if the sun stays out, wild mushroom season will be here soon. I am wringing my hands in anticipation.  There was much to see last weekend.  And I took my camera, as always. To capture the moments, and to share the essence of my mountain retreat, with all of you.   Every bunnies welcome!!! A macro view of the welcome sign hanging by the cabin front door. 
Two wood peckers engage in a spring song and dance atop a snag just outside our door.
A long abandoned cabin, hidden in a thick explanse of trees, stands in silent testimony of Idaho history. Many have speculated about the history of this cabin, but the piles of rusted tin cans shrewn throughout the surrounding grounds gives rise to the possibility that this site was probably not a homestead, but rather served as a stop over for packers delivering supplies from Lewiston to the gold miners in Pierce.
Window to the past.

Some other time.

Back home, the neighborhood hunter takes dinner to go. That's one critter I won't have to deal with.         "I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -
I took the road less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference."
-- Robert Frost

Tags: trees, cabin, weekend, rest, birds, woodpecker, rustic

New York to Paris the Google Way!

Go to Google Maps
Click on 'Get directions' tab
From New York, New York
To Paris, France
And read line # 23

LMBO!!!!

 

Tags: Google, maps, 'Get directions'

An Eye to the Future

Time is a lot of the things people say that God is. There's the preexisting, and having no end. There's the notion of being all powerful--because nothing can stand against time, can it? Not mountains, not armies. And time is, of course, all-healing. Give anything enough time, and everything is taken care of; all pain encompassed, all hardship erased, all loss subsumed. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Remember, man, thou art dust; and unto dust thou shalt return. And if Time is anything akin to God, I suppose that Memory must be the Devil.   Gabaldon, Diana. (2005) A breath of snow and ashes. New York; Random House.   And so this is how Diana opens the sixth book in her Outlander series.  If the rest of the book is anything like the prologue, I didna think I'll be disappointed.  The only bad thing about reading Diana's books is the way her characters rub off on me; after a while I start talking like a Scot, using words like wee, bairn, kent, didna. Or maybe it's all a precursor to the Scottish Highland Games we'll attend in July.  :)  Either way, I am ready, willing, and able.    Awakened from a long winter sleep, our contorted filbert reaches up toward the sky with renewed energy.   We just got back from delivering Dilynn's Easter basket to her, she had to sample everything before we left. I packed it with two baby animal books, a Beatrice Potter DVD collection, Dora the Explorer no-spill bubble blower (with Boots the monkey), M & M's, Reese's, Kisses, Pepperidge Farms Goldfish, Mini-pringles, and Marpoles (marshmellows).  We left her on a bit of a sugar rush.  Ah well, that's my job as Granma.   I've a bit of a dilemna and the answer, on the surface, should be easy.  But it's not.  I'm stuck betwix a promise I made to my father on his death bed, and giving someone hope.  How can that be?  In the days just before my father's lucidity slipped away, we had a conversation; a brief dialogue that I am inextricably bound to. It was just the two of us in his hospital room, a simple quiet moment and I was watching him sleep while a thousand memories flowed seamlessly through my mind...and my heart wondered about the thousand and one memories of my life I'd face without him.  He woke, cringing from the pain inflicted by the cancer growing in the bones of his now fraile body.  I watched, feeling helpless, wholly unable to stop the wretched jolts that sublimated his spirit and brought tears to my eyes. If only I could ease his pain. Overcome by the look in his eyes, I announced to him my plan to support the American Cancer Society; even if they could no longer help him, they could still help another. No.  Don't waste your money he told me. It's not a waste. Honey...keep your money.  You need it more than they do. But I want to help them find a cure. He turned away from me, this man who for years fought his battle so bravely, who refused to accept his illness as a death sentance and chose to live with vigor without burdening those he loved with his hardship.  He turned away and slowly told me they will never find a cure. Doctor's make too much money off people with cancer. Finding a cure would cut off the flow to their pockets. I was silenced, because deep down inside I knew he was right. But...with or without a cure, the Society serves a purpose for the patients and their families. He turned back to me with a look of profound intensity. Keep your money. You need it more. Do something for yourself.  Just promise me you will never donate your hard earned money to any cancer charity. Quiet. Honey, promise me. But--- Promise me. Pause. Our eyes met. I promise. Three days later he was gone. And now I find myself looking back on that day and the promise I made, grappling with my conscience (a promise is a promise, but a death bed promise...well, that is sacred ground). Last year a co-worker's father was diagnosed. And I've recently learned the close associate of a couple of friends is ill.  The call to support the fight for a cure has been voiced.  I hear it, I recognize it. And I hear my father's words as well as mine. It's true then, Memory must be the Devil.     "Beauty can't amuse you, but brainwork...reading, writing, thinking...can." ~ Helen Gurley Brown Beauty inspires us but it is the active imagination that keeps us going. Be sure you spend as much time on your mind as you do on your looks.

Tags: Easter, candy, Gabaldon, Scot, memory

Catch the Wind

When I was young I wanted to run away and join the circus; it wasn't so much for the running away but rather for the horses. The circus had lots of horses, I just wanted to be near them. The years since those days have passed, I'm older and the circus is now performing nightly in my home under the guise of cable news.
Those are the words that skipped through my mind every night during February. At one time I declared my home an Anna Nicole Smith Free Zone to any who would listen but clearly the news didn't get that memo. So for what its worth, since the son's untimely death in September I've viewed the 'lawyer' boyfriend as suspect...very suspect. Then last month another in his circle met a tragic and untimely end. How convenient for him.
Now back to the real world.
Sam's mom, Virginia, celebrated her 76th birthday last month in the company of her family at a local Italian restaurant. Half way through the meal Dilynn looked up at her with those bright blue eyes and said "Happy birthday Granma!" in the sweetest tone much to Virginia and everyone else's delight. Basking in the glow of her now captive audience Dilynn took full advantage of the situation and repeated the wish, over and over, each time changing her tone, expression and posture to better cover a wide variety of highly animated deliveries. This had everyone in stitches and she continued until her mother put a gentle stop to her antics, but not until she had delivered the final wish in such a way that I was a wee bit reminded of a certain Presidential birthday wish delivered by the one and only Marilyn Monroe.
She (Dilynn, not Marilyn) continues to charm and amaze us with her personality and development. Last month she learned the A-B-C song and sings it all by herself quite well; no surprise since her mom is a teacher. When she reaches the letters L-M-N-O-P she runs it all together as 'elementopee' and this puts a smile on our faces each and every time. She can count to ten, with a little help from her mom. Amazing. Thinking back to myself and my younger sisters, we didn't even know what a letter was at 20 months, let alone recite the entire alphabet.
On Valentines Day we invited Sam's mom over for dinner...chicken cacciatore and phyllo wrapped asparagus. It was delish! I do enjoy cooking most of the time,and trying out new recipes even though Sam once commented that I always want to use his mother as a guinea pig. Sure it was the first time I'd ever prepared chicken cacciatore, but the aparagus dish was a repeat. Sam brought home a gorgeous pink azalea plant, and Virginia knocked on our door bearing a beautiful fresh-cut floral arrangement. All the makings for a fragrant holiday filled with love. We also received our wine club selections from Icicle Ridge Winery and the Riesling, once opened, didn't last long.

Sam lets air out of the tires to gain traction surface on the snow (left). When Dave's black Jeep got stuck, we drove around him and found ourselves stuck as well, leaving Bill and his red Jeep to pull us out (right).
The following Saturday we took Sam's Jeep to the cabin and planned to stay through the holiday weekend. A couple of friends with Jeeps accompanied us and it was a good thing since everyone got stuck at least once. We made it in to the cabins, got out the four wheelers and went for a ride to check on all the cabins as well as the condition of another road out. The other guys left in the afternoon, but Sam and I stayed the night and drove out the next morning. We didn't get stuck, but we did slide a bit too close to the down side of the mountain road a couple of times.

The drive in to the cabin (left). Sam and Rum get out the snow plow and get to work...or rather play (right).


Modern-day downtown Orofino in a time warp. The photo on the left was aged and the photo on the right is as taken.
We've been thinking about upgrading our travel trailer and buying a fifth wheel. Last month we visited all the local dealers but the inventories are very limited and even though we found one brand we really liked (Montana by Keystone) a few features didn't sit well with us so we decided a trip north to the Spokane area was in order. Once home from the cabin we showered and repacked for an overnight trip north. The weather started out great but halfway into the trip we hit freezing rain and within seconds passed a guy in a new Intrepid who had spun 180 degrees and slid off the road. Next thing we know our Jeep starts heading toward the ditch, will not respond to Sam and a few tense seconds pass before he finally regains control of the vehicle. Whew...that'll increase your heart rate! The weather in the Spokane and Coeur D' Alene area was horrible (cold, windy, and rainy) not the best for looking at RV's but we found what we want, a Big Horn by Heartland. No one here in the valley sells the brand, but a Spokane dealer had one model available but they have two of the model we want on order. Whether we actually make the change this year or wait until next hasn't been decided. It's a huge move up on many levels.
Rumbeau is doing extremely well. I was concerned that Allie's absence might depress him, but actually just the opposite is true. At first he seemed lost and listless, but within a couple of weeks he snapped out of it. Her absence has changed many of his behaviors, in some cases for the better. He went back to sleeping on our bed with us at night, a practice he quit doing after we brought Allie home because she took over his place on the bed. For years I've worked with him to take a treat 'nice' from my hand, but he always went into competition mode and snapped the treat from my hand, often biting me in the process. Now, he takes treats nice and gentle. He sure moans a lot though, due more to being old (he turned nine y/o in January) and he does get all stoved up these days. Rumbeau is the third male black lab Sam has ever had; the prior two, Chewy and Benson never made it nine years; Chewy's hips went out on him at seven years, and Bennie made it eight years before he became paralyzed and lost the use of his legs. The difference may be in the food as we've fed Rumbeau Science Diet Lamb and Rice since the day we brought him home, and we didn't with Chewy and Bennie.
Spring is just around the corner. The snowdrops have already bloomed and now my daffies are up and on the blooming verge. It's light when I leave the office. What a relief. I'm taking a week off and looking forward to getting rest, relaxation, and some creative pursuits done. And hey, thanks Christy for buying the two layouts from me! Hope you enjoy!
I'm really enjoying the movie I'm watching since it is about a horse and based on a true story. A double favorite. We rented three movies a couple of weekends ago and we ended up with Flags of Our Fathers, Flicka, and Flyboys. It wasn't until the drive home that I realized all three movie titles began with the letters FL. Didn't plan that...how bizarre. All three were good, but Flyboys really stood out and is based on a true story. Hmmm, I'm seeing a pattern here...true life stories brought to celluoid. Tonight we'll watch How the West Was Won, a classic that oddly enough Sam has never seen. It's been years since I first saw the movie in a North Hollywood theatre with my Grandma, and yet the memory of that day, as well as certain scenes from the movie are still fresh in my mind. There are days when I can't remember something I read or heard two days ago, but I hope I will always retain the memory of the better days of my childhood.

Tags: February, Valentine's Day, movies, labrador, fifth wheel, RV

On another note...or two

Each night as the day winds down, just when I think I'll have a moment to do some writing here, I seem to get distracted by other creative pursuits.  Words lately eluded me on every level...spoken, written and read.  Drawn in by the magnetic energy of images I've whiled away countless hours following dreams and mystical glimpses of imaginary and distant places...and time.  All for my soul, in search of finding balance to counteract the less than positive influences projecting into my life. And, I'm happy to report, it's working. Two nights ago I finally finished reading True Believer by Nicholas Sparks.  Not one of his best and nothing compared to The Notebook (my favorite) or Message in a Bottle but a fair read to pass the time.  Next on my ever growing "Read Me" pile is Sparks' Three Weeks with My Brother, but I see Diana Gabaldon recently released  A Breath of Snow and Ashes (published in October 2005 I see...now how did I miss that?) from her Outlander series and that's been three years in the waiting for so I'll likely head in that direction.  If I do I'm certain it won't take me 6 months to read....six days is highly possible given my previous track record with Diana's books. But, I've gotten distracted again.  In my tootling, or doodling meanderings of late I've re-awakened the child in me who loved to draw.  Granted all those years ago my subjects were always horses which drove my older sister nuts <grin> but I got over that and moved on to different things.  The image at the beginning of this entry is the result of my current tootling behavior and from this I've learned a whole new venture for my photography and acquired another use formy vast gallery of personal photos.  No more dull, boring and mediocre images...no siree Bob!  I'm currently turning Dilynn into a forest fairy, but haven't quite aligned all the right elements to make it work (well, at least not to my satisfaction anyways).  Anyways, from the original photos below its easy to see the foundation on which the image above was formed.  I don't know why, but scenes from the film The Great Gatsby kept playing in my mind as I worked on the image...something about the car.   Funny thing about the graphic editing program is I've had it for over ten years but never used it that much; basically for just touching up photos and such.  It was so complicated and had so many functions to learn I always felt a bit overwhelmed and intimidated by it.  I'm glad to have crossed that bridge and tackled the program because the payoff is so rewarding. I've also been in my scrapbooking zone lately and decided to offer some of my layouts for purchase on eBay for those who love the idea of scrapbooking, but haven't the time or inclination.  The first layout I listed sold...boom just like that (it was a pet theme).  Frankly I think that was a fluke but, hmmmmm, this could lead to something.  The second layout didn't sell so I re-listed it as well as others and revamped the listings themselves.  We'll see whether it takes off or not.  If not, no loss since I'm certain the layouts will not be wasted. Well, gotta go, lunch time is over.       Okay...I hear the grumbling.  If you really want to see the layouts available on eBay, click <here>.     "This is happiness: to be dissolved into something completely great."  -- Willa Cather

 

Tags: photography, novels, creativity, digital art, moods, eBay

Thank heaven for little girls...

I have news! Amy had her first ultrasound last week and we are in the pink.  :)  Mom and baby are doing well; baby is very healthy and due a bit sooner than first estimated.  Dilynn will be greeting her baby sister in late May or early June.

Parties, puppies and other ponderings

Okay, it's mid-January already and I've only written one entry this month/year.  Geesh!  I've been a bit busy lately...been spending time on-line, but not doing much journal visiting.  Haven't felt up to it; heck, I haven't felt like reading, anything.   Started reading True Believer by Nicholas Sparks in August and I'm barely 2/3 through it.   Burned out from reading so much between my professional and personal life, I guess.  The tree farm also tends to put us behind the eight ball (so to speak) in December and so it seems we spend January getting caught up on everything else.  So if it's been awhile since I dropped by to say hello, it's simply a matter of my being distracted away from J-Land and I hope to get things back in balance...soon! I do hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season filled with love and delights!  We did and the best part was Dilynn, of course.  :) Last week a couple who live down the street stopped by to invite us to a neighborhood holiday party.  Their original plan was to have the party before Christmas but next thing they knew Christmas had come and gone without the party.  So, they had it last Friday.  It was nice to get together and touch base with our neighbors...some we knew and some we didn't.  Just before we walked to their home Sam wondered if the party was a cover for an Amway party, LOL!  It wasn't.  The asshole next door was there and I dreaded the thought of being under the same roof as that man, let alone in the same room.  It's bad enough my kitchen and dining room windows look out into his back yard and I have to drive past his house every day...truth be told I really hoped he would not attend.  But he and his wife were there, and he had to be the center of attention the entire time.    Neither Sam nor I have said anything to anyone on the block about Allie.  It was a real test of inner strength holding my tongue each time that man opened his mouth; he spent the entire time cracking jokes and trying to be funny.  Toward the end the hostess mentioned some puppies her Alaskan Malamute had last month and then she brought two of the pups into the party for everyone to see with the hope of finding good homes.  And yes, the pups were sooooo cute; only five weeks old.  Way off the cute scale with their fat little fuzzy puppy bodies, short waggy tales and teddy bear like faces.  But, we resisted the temptation, difficult as it was...just the sight of them melted my heart.   True to his nature the asshole next door commented to the host and hostess that if they couldn't place all the pups, the [insert local Chinese restaurant name here] will take puppies up to three months of age (before he retired he inspected restaurants for the State health department, so I'm guessing he'd know those kind of things).  But, if ignorance is bliss surely that jerk is in paradise.  That he 1) vocalized those words and 2) thought it was acceptable in present company to do so, just speaks volumes about his character.  And now, everyone else has seen his true colors.  It just goes to show some people can hide only so much about themselves behind a mask...sooner or later the self unveils the 'real' person to the public.  It's been so cold here the past week, with temps below freezing, averaging between 3 F and 25 F.  Brrrrrr.   We've not had it as bad as the mid-west ice storms, but I noticed over the weekend that even Southern California had snow.  Wow, I think that's possibly the second time that's happened in my lifetime.      "Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them and try to follow where they lead."   ~Louisa May Alcott

  

Tags: January, party, Malamute, puppy